It's all good!

I have mostly good days anyway, but today was especially good!

I often complain about my camera... the third or fourth refurbished warranty replacement.I like the camera for over ten months. A minor defect was covered under the warranty. Wish I had the broken one back. I bought it because my old one had a broken battery door that I was holding shut with a C-clamp and it was kinda big. (HP 850) Well, big or not, it was a great camera, and today I fixed it! Now a piece of strapping tape will hold the door closed. (long story) You all were so kind to say that my pictures looked great, even if they didn't. These first two pictures will show you what I meant. They are both pictures of the same pear, both with flash. The first was taken with the refurbished camera; the second was taken with my antique huge monster camera. Tell me if you can see the difference.

Which brings me to the second great thing today... my first pear of the season! Yes, this is from our pear tree. They are yummy. We don't get much fruit because we don't spray our trees. We savor the ones we get!


The third fantastic thing... Hubby couldn't wait for me to get home so he could share his news. His first green egg! They are so much richer than brown eggs. My favorite! The yolks are orange. I'll try to remember to take a picture of one cracked into a bowl. Half of the baby chicks were Araucacas or 'Easter egg' chickens. They lay colored eggs - a beautiful bluish green.
Check out the egg carton. It's what prompted me to fix the old camera. The other one wouldn't take a good picture with the writing in focus. We saved our old 'store-bought' cartons. I never noticed this before. It has a favorite scripture inside the lid! Let's just call that the fourth thing!


The fifth? I saved this for last. If you don't have arthritis or carpal tunnel, you won't appreciate this. At my two previous homes I had my favorite can opener. I was certain that I had taken it off the cabinet and brought it with me, but never found it. I've missed it for six years! I could no longer buy one locally. My FIL had one of those Pampered Chef openers that cuts the side so there's no sharp edges. It is difficult for me to use, plus you have to often crank it around twice to get it to cut.

I don't use a lot of canned stuff, so I never got around to replacing it until now. I found out that Ace Hardware had it online and would ship it to my local hardware store. Today, I used it for the second time! I love this can opener. There is nothing better on planet earth! I had the other one for many years. It stays sharp, cuts first time around, is easy on your hands and wrists, pops off and into the dishwasher, and it's 'green' for energy consumption!
My Swing-away wall-mount can opener. Hehe... I just noticed in the picture... I never put the magnet thing in place. It's still stuck there on the back end where it was in the package! It hooks in and catches the lid. Oh well, think I'll go do that now...

God was multi-tasking!

See the bright sunshine?See the pouring rain?

See the bright sunshine & the pouring rain?

I did not correct the exposure on these; the sun was blindingly bright! It poured rain so hard that we had standing water all over the yard and pasture. I just knew there had to be a beautiful rainbow to the east.

To see in that direction I have to go through the garage or look out my in-laws bedroom windows. I did neither. I waited for the rain to let up to a light sprinkle before I took these next shots.

See the double rainbow? It's faint, but it's there.

I just love it when I can see both ends and the double bow! The other end was other the barn and not very picturesque. Someday I'll have a new camera and be able to capture those moments much better!

Splish Splash - It's raining awards!

I was just catching up on some blogs I haven't had a chance to visit in a few days. I popped in over at Al's Caramel Macchiato and was BLOWN AWAY by the awards she is racking up! Impressive Al! While reading her post, I found my farm blog among the list of recipients for the Splish Splash Award that she was passing along. Thank you Al. You are super sweet.

Let the Children Come

Anyone out there want to encourage my grandchildren? I welcome it. Want to tell them to get a good education; they'll need it for the future? Please do. Want to impress upon them that we can only do such much; and they need to do their part by listening and learning? Let me give you their phone number... Call them up. Want to share a success story with them? Go ahead.

No wait... That stuff's bad isn't it? Won't it warp their minds? Maybe make them too liberal?

Relax. Encouragement is good.


Here is a link so that you can read for yourself what our president's speech to school children is about.

Presidential Craziness

I was watching the network news and saw a tearful mother. She was trying to hold back the tears. Speaking of her children, she just couldn't contain her grief. No, they weren't abducted. No, not murdered, raped, abused, run over in traffic, given drugs at preschool...

I don't often let politics enter my home here in Blogville. I've just been so irritated by what I've seen on the news that I have to speak up. We have a black president. Deal with it. He is not foreign. He is not a Muslim. He is not burning Jews.

I hate pulling out the old race card, but unfortunately I don't have any other cards left in my hand. I can't help but think that if he was 100% white guy, some of this stuff would be non-existent. I am a Christian. Unfortunately, there are some Christians out there giving us a bad name. In the name of God, they claim that President Obama is another Hitler! Because he wants everyone to have affordable health care, should the nations of the world band together and rise up to defeat this monster?

I know a lot of it is about money. "I want to keep mine and don't want you to have any of it!" They liken the plan to communism. What about Medicare? I won't go there...

So now, our elected President wants to address school children.

I kept wondering what I was missing. I called my Obama expert... "Have I missed something? What's he going to talk about that's got everyone so upset?"

Here it is in a nutshell: Our elected official is asking children to convert. He is forcing his democratic beliefs on them. How, you ask? He wants them to write a letter. Are you ready for this? The letter is supposed to be about how they can help the President. OMG! No! We will not stand for this!

Next thing you know, he'll mention unity... You know - that garbage he spewed during his campaign about it not being red states and blue states but the United States. He'll probably have the audacity to mention patriotism! I think if the word 'care' is uttered, we should scream for impeachment!

Resume for Heaven

God has a job for me. I sometimes wonder about what God intends for my job here on this earth to be. I try to intently listen for His still, small voice. I desperately want to follow His lead, to be where He would place me. Am I succeeding?

What about heaven? Will we have a job to do there?

Whenever heaven has been described to me, it is a place of perfection... streets of gold, gates of pearl, angels singing, no tears, no pain... We will forever worship Him. Is that it? I mean, day in and day out, for eternity? Do we just hang out, singing and praising... feasting on the good stuff? Not that it sounds bad; but eternity is a pretty long time, and all that sounds pretty simple for a God that conceived of this intricate universe.

I have been fortunate in my life to have spent time in nature, surrounded by calm and beauty, feeling the presence of God. There is no greater feeling; but as great as it felt... how long could I honestly sit there? A day? Sure. A week? Mmm... relaxing. Years? Well...

Eternity is a long time. I have a few questions:

1. Will we sleep? If so...
2. Do we have to get up at a set time... or can we sleep in?
   
3. What will we do when we wake up?
4. Do we eat breakfast? Where does it come from? Is it cooked?
5. Who does the dishes?
6. Are we then, off to work?

Silly? Perhaps; but will we have a job to do in heaven? Is our time spent here in preparation for our career in the afterlife? That might explain a few things. Then again, maybe not...

I was reading something that got me pondering again the subject of pain and suffering in this world. You know... that old 'Why would God allow...' thing. I know that, just as the analogy speaks in the Bible, a grape vine thrives when pruned. It grows strong and bears much fruit. The rough times of my life have always turned out to be a blessing. Sometimes it takes longer to see it. I don't wish to go through the pain again; but it made me who I am. It prepared me for how I live my life right now. Did it also prepare me for something else ...something greater?

If heaven has all these souls filling its space, will not it be a society? In any society, there are roles to be filled. Even Jesus talked about a body needing hands and feet. Heaven is perfect, right? So what is a perfect society? Maybe one filled to the brim with compassion and understanding? Genuine caring for your fellow man? If there is no evil, no pain, no suffering, how much compassion will be required? After all, isn't compassion more of a react to a situation, rather than a tangible thing?

OK, now I'm rambling in circles... Does anyone have the answers?